Archive for February, 2007

  • Nicholas Financial Hits New 52-Week Low
    , February 6th, 2007 at 12:19 pm

    Shares of Nicholas Financial (NICK) got down to $10.96 a share this morning, a level it hasn’t seen since January of 2006. The P/E ratio is now in the single digits.
    For the first nine months of NICK’s fiscal year, net earnings were up 12.4%

  • Jim Cramer – Sex Machine
    , February 6th, 2007 at 11:34 am

  • Apocalypse Dow
    , February 6th, 2007 at 11:07 am

    Bloomberg looks at the market for catastrophe bonds–debt linked to “insurance claims from calamities such as hurricanes, earthquakes or disease.”

    Swiss Reinsurance Co., the world’s largest reinsurer, estimates the market for insurance-linked securities, which includes everything from Triple-X and bird flu bonds to so-called sidecars, will grow to $350 billion in a decade after more than quadrupling to $27 billion in the past five years. With as much as $2 billion in underwriting fees up for grabs, almost every investment bank, from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. to Deutsche Bank AG, is building teams to sell and trade insurance.
    “You can’t match these yields,” said Brynjolfsson, who holds $1 billion of catastrophe bonds at Newport Beach, California-based Pimco. “They fully compensate the investor for the risks that are being underwritten and provide an additional premium. I’m making a real strong push with issuers and Wall Street to bring out more of these securities for my investors.”

  • You’re the TV Guy!
    , February 6th, 2007 at 10:45 am

    This is cute. Lindsay spots that guy. You know, that guy from that TV show. Oh, you know. That guy!

  • State Street Buys Investors Financial Services
    , February 6th, 2007 at 10:23 am

    In August, I profiled Investors Financial Services (IFIN) which is a company very similar to our SEI Investments (SEIC). They both do the “back office” work for banks and mutual funds. It’s a great business. Yesterday, State Street (STT) said it was going to buy IFIN for $4.5 billion. The stock jumped 27%.

  • Precision-Guided Cancer Weapons
    , February 5th, 2007 at 10:42 pm

    Business Week looks at some wicked cool technology from our very own Varian Medical Systems (VAR) that’s helping to fight cancer:

    In early 2005, Phil Ogden noticed he was having trouble swallowing food and went to a doctor, thinking he might have acid reflux. The news was far worse. The 66-year-old retired cop from Modesto, Calif., had esophageal cancer, and it had already spread to nearby lymph nodes. Dr. Albert Koong, a radiation oncologist with Stanford University’s Comprehensive Cancer Center, asked if Ogden would mind being the first person to undergo a new type of radiation treatment. “The doctor said: ‘For the first time in history, we can bomb the equivalent of an outhouse from 30,000 feet with no collateral damage,'” Ogden recalls.
    Koong was referring to treatment with a $3 million device from Varian Medical Systems Inc. (VAR ) It combines a linear accelerator, which emits high-energy X-ray beams, with advanced imaging gear. The machine enabled the doctor and his team to home in on cancerous cells and deliver precise doses of radiation over a six-week period without harming surrounding tissue. For the patient, that meant fewer side effects of radiation, such as a dry mouth and weight loss. Within days, Ogden was putting on pounds as it became easier to swallow. Ogden has since had to receive chemotherapy to treat small spots of cancer elsewhere in his body, but his esophagus remains cancer free.

    Year……….Sales……….Oper Earnings……Taxes……….Net
    2002……….$873.1………….$148.0……….$53.3……….$94.7
    2003……….$1,041.6……….$200.6……….$70.2……….$130.4
    2004……….$1,235.5……….$258………….$90.3……….$167.7
    2005……….$1,382.6……….$308.3……….$101.7……..$206.6
    2006……….$1,597.8……….$318.7……….$75.1……….$243.6

  • Forecast Is Cut by UnitedHealth
    , February 5th, 2007 at 10:38 pm

    From Reuters:

    The UnitedHealth Group cut its 2007 revenue forecast yesterday after determining that membership in its full-service Medicare plans for older patients would probably decline “modestly” this year.
    The company lowered its Medicare Advantage projection for the second time in two months, even as a rival health insurer, Humana, said it picked up 100,000 such Medicare members in January alone.
    UnitedHealth’s new Medicare Advantage forecast led analysts to speculate that the company’s performance has suffered as it tries to emerge from a stock options scandal.
    The insurer, which is based in Minnetonka, Minn., now expects consolidated revenue to exceed $78 billion this year, down from a forecast last month of approximately $79 billion. It maintained its net earnings forecast for the year at $4.7 billion to $4.75 billion.

    This is minor, and the market seems to agree. But it will be interesting to keep an eye on.

  • Good News for Buffett
    , February 4th, 2007 at 1:34 pm

    From The Onion:

    GEICO Saves 15 Percent Or More By Discontinuing Advertising
    WASHINGTON, DC—Executives at the car-insurance company GEICO learned Monday that they could slice 15 percent or more from their operating budget by discontinuing their extensive TV advertising campaign. “We couldn’t believe it when we found out how much we could save by axing that ad campaign,” said Tony Nicely, GEICO’s chairman, president, and CEO. “Dropping that CGI gecko saved us a quarter of a million dollars—and it only took one phone call to our marketing department.” Nicely added that sometimes a company has to save money to save money.

  • Don’t Forget Your Telephone Excise Tax Refund
    , February 4th, 2007 at 7:19 am

    In 1898, Congress imposed a “luxury tax” on long-distance phone calls in order to pay for the Spanish-American War. The war lasted 113 days, but the tax lasted 108 years (we won, btw).
    The government finally decided to get rid of the tax. Or more precisely, the courts declared it illegal and after fighting it for years, the government, like the Spanish, conceded defeat.
    The good news is that taxpayers can now get a refund. A very small refund, but a refund nonetheless
    You can either dig up your old phone bill, or go for the automatic plan. That’s $30 for one dependent; $40 for two; $50 for three or $60 for four. Sixty bucks is the limit.
    For the 411, check the IRS’ site.
    What happened to the Battleship Maine? It was refloated in 1912 and sunk again in deeper water. The main mast is now part of the U.S.S. Maine Memorial in Arlington National Cemetary.
    After the war, Cuba leased the U.S. Guantanamo Bay for $2,000 a year in gold (now about $4,000 in cash). Every year, we pay. Every year, Castro refuses.

  • Weekend Reading
    , February 3rd, 2007 at 1:15 pm

    lumberg.bmp
    I hope the boss didn’t ask you come in this weekend. Here are a few articles that I thought were interesting.
    Paul Krugman on Milton Friedman.
    James Surowiecki on Sarbanes-Oxley.
    Jeffrey Toobin on Google Book Search.
    John McWhorter on dying languages.
    Also, I saw the movie Pan’s Labyrinth last night. It’s a beautiful film. I highly recommend it.